November 12, 2026
In 1866, Helenor M. Davisson was ordained a deacon by the North Indiana Conference of the Methodist Protestant Church. She is recognized as the first ordained woman in the Methodist tradition.
Davisson’s ministry did not suddenly begin when church officials placed their approval upon it. She had already traveled on horseback with her father as he served churches across Indiana. Like many women in Methodist history, she was doing the work before the institution found language—or courage—to recognize her calling.
Her ordination did not mean Methodist women had achieved equality. Different Methodist bodies followed different rules, and women continued to be licensed, denied, approved, restricted, and sometimes stripped of recognition. The Methodist Church did not grant women full clergy rights across the denomination until 1956. Even after rules changed, women—especially Black women, queer women, disabled women, and women serving across other differences—continued to face unequal appointments, pay, and respect.
Davisson’s story is both a first and a reminder: whenever history celebrates the first person allowed through a door, we should also ask who built the door, who kept it closed, and who is still waiting outside.
Learn more: Timeline of Women in Methodism.
